Bob Weinstein
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
Made Chevalier de L'Ordre Arts et Lettres by the French government in 2001.
"The Weinsteins have considered a public stock offering for Miramax which would double its capital base from $50 to $100 million." --From The Hollywood Reporter, July 24, 1991
Biography
Bob Weinstein was born on Oct. 18, 1954 in the New York City neighborhood of Flushing, Queens. He attended the State University of New York at Fredonia, but dropped out to join his older brother Harvey Weinstein in his blossoming career as a concert producer. In 1979, the brothers founded the film distribution company Miramax Films, which began with concert films like Paul McCartney's "Rockshow" (1980) and "The Secret Policeman's Other Ball" (1982) but quickly moved on to narrative features. Bob Weinstein himself tried his hand at screenwriting, first with the horror film "The Burning" (1981), and then with the comedy "Playing for Keeps" (1986), the latter of which he co-directed with his brother Harvey, but never pursued the craft thereafter. Among Miramax's most successful early outings were the comedy "Working Girl" (1987), Errol Morris' documentary "The Thin Blue Line" (1988), and the Daniel Day-Lewis-starring drama "My Left Foot" (1989). Throughout the 1990s, Miramax was instrumental in bringing attention to then-up-and-coming filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Robert Rodriguez, and Gus Van Sant. In the early 2000s, Bob Weinstein began producing Broadway plays, including "The Producers" (2001) and "Sweet Smell of Success" (2002), and branched out to the world of television by producing the reality show "Project Runway" (Bravo 2004-). In 2005, Bob and Harvey Weinstein left Miramax, at this point owned by Disney, to launch The Weinstein Company. October of 2017 saw the publication of articles in The New York Times and the New Yorker that detailed accusations against Harvey Weinstein of multiple instances of sexual assault and rape of several dozen women who had worked with him over the preceding decades. Bob Weinstein responded by decrying Harvey as "sick and depraved" and severing professional ties with his brother, but was later himself accused of sexual harassment of producer Amanda Segel, as well as of being complicit in having paid off Harvey's accusers in the past and further enabling his brother's allegedly abusive behavior. Nevertheless, Bob Weinstein maintained his attachment to The Weinstein Company and his role as an active producer.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Editing (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Special Thanks (Feature Film)
Life Events
1979
Brothers journeyed to Cannes Film Festival with the proceeds from a music-producing business they ran in college; acquired rights to concert film, "The Secret Policeman's Ball" and achieved art-house hit on double bill with "The Secret Policeman's Other Ball"
1979
With brother Harvey, founded Miramax Films, named for their parents, Miriam and Max Weinstein
1981
Production supervisor for feature, "Spaced Out"
1981
Scripted first feature (also editing consultant), "The Burning"
1986
Co-produced (also co-directed, co-scripted and co-executive produced music) first feature, "Playing For Keeps"
1988
Became partner with Samuel Montagu Ltd. (An investment concern), expanding Miramax
1990
Miramax sued the Motion Picture Association of America over X rating given to Pedro Almodovar's "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!"; court dismissed case but new rating, NC-17, was instituted by the MPAA
1991
Brothers retained services of celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz to monitor the networks after ABC, CBS and NBC refused to run ads for "The Pope Must Die"
1991
Added new releasing branch to Miramax, Prestige Films
1992
Formed Dimension Films; first release, "Supercop"
1993
Miramax purchased by Disney for $80 million
1996
Signed seven-year deal with Disney
1999
Miramax signed eight-picture agreement with MGM
2004
Co-produced the Bravo reality series "Project Runway"
2005
Miramax ended their 12-year exclusive relationship with Disney for a settlement worth $135 million; The Weinsteins will take Dimension Films, Miramax's genre label, with them to their new company
2006
The Weinstein Company announced a distribution pact with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; MGM will distribute the product domestically in theaters, while the Weinstein Company will retain long-term ownership of their product
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Made Chevalier de L'Ordre Arts et Lettres by the French government in 2001.
"The Weinsteins have considered a public stock offering for Miramax which would double its capital base from $50 to $100 million." --From The Hollywood Reporter, July 24, 1991
In order to promote the film "The Pope Must Die," Miramax eventually decided to retitle the tale of a corpulent pontiff "The Pope Must Diet." Some newspapers had been advertising the film as "The Pope Must..." while in Yugoslavia the movie was being sold as "Sleeping with the Fishes."
